by ALEXANDER VOLTZ – THE face of the Whitlam Government’s Dismissal, Sir David Smith, was remembered at a memorial service held in his honour earlier this month.
The service was held at the National Jewish Memorial Centre in Canberra on September 15, following his death on August 15. He was 89-years-old.
- Sir David led a distinguished career, serving as Official Secretary to five Governor-Generals of Australia.
- Former Prime Minister John Howard, who offered moving remarks.
- The dismissal was ultimately a political crisis – and not a constitutional crisis.
It was the final send-off for Sir David Smith KCVO AO, who will be remembered as a great patriotic Australian.
Sir David led a distinguished and diligent career, serving successively as Official Secretary to no less than five Governor-Generals of Australia from 1973 until 1990: Sir Paul Hasluck (1969-74), Sir John Kerr (1974-77), Sir Zelman Cowen (1977-82), Sir Ninian Stephen (1982-89) and Bill Hayden (1989-96).
IMMIGRANTS
Born in Melbourne to Polish-Jewish immigrants, Sir David’s original surname, Szmitkowski, was anglicised to “Smith”.
He attended Scotch College and later the Australian National University, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts.
He entered the public service in 1953 and by 1971 was heading the Government Branch of the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet.
As Official Secretary to the Governor-General, Sir David presided over some of Australia’s most important political and historical events, such as the implementation of the Order of Australia and the constitutional crisis of 1975.
It was Sir David who, before a crowd of angry Whitlam supporters, read Kerr’s famous proclamation dissolving the Parliament of Australia. Later in life, he posited that the dismissal was ultimately a political crisis – and not a constitutional crisis.
REPUBLICANS
After leaving Yarralumla, Sir David became a committed member of Australians for Constitutional Monarchy and proved instrumental in defeating the republicans during the 1999 referendum.
He also volunteered at Old Parliament House, leading guided tours and imparting his rich knowledge on curious visitors.
Sir David’s memorial was made all the more solemn in the wake of the passing of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II last week.
Among those who gathered to remember him was former Prime Minister John Howard, who offered moving remarks and recalled fond memories.
A delegation from the Australian Monarchist League was also present, including its National Chairman, Philip Benwell MBE who said “Sir David was a great Australian and a staunch monarchist and we are grateful to have had this opportunity to pay our respects to him and his family”.
Sir David is survived by his wife, Lady June, and their three sons, Michael, Richard and Philip.PC
Can’t understand how someone who was so good for Australia & so popular could get such a thumping @ the election by majority?
The unkind remarks and name calling “Kerr’s Cur” directed at Sir David Smith by Gough Whitlam were nasty, but what the Governor General Sir John Kerr had to put up with for following constitutional law on advice was even worse.
No wonder voters turned against Labor.
The mythology of the ABC series The Dismissal, dismissed from governing when the PM refused to accept a caretaker role for the Labor Government he led in accordance with constitutional law following the blocking of a money supply bill by the Coalition Opposition that had the numbers to do so, the Government could not get supply passed so there was a constitutional crisis.
The constitutional crisis was brought about after news that the Labor Government, notably senior Cabinet Ministers and Prime Minister, had been secretly negotiating to borrow billions of dollars from foreign sources and therefore ignoring the law that required approval from the Loans Council. The negotiations in a Melbourne hotel room were secretly recorded and when made public were known as The Age Tapes (The Age newspaper published the transcripts).
However, the real dismissal of the Whitlam Labor Government took place at a double dissolution election when voters dismissed them in a landslide defeat at the ballot boxes.